How the trade worked
The trade between Africa, Europe and the Americas, the Middle Passage, and who profited.
Planned. This module is part of the plan and is not written yet.Handled with care: read the note under Practicalities before using this module.
Why it matters
Along the coast from Badagry in Nigeria to Cape Coast in Ghana, the markets and forts where captives were held still stand. Knowing how the trade worked helps us understand those places, and the families and nations it changed on both sides of the Atlantic.
Draft outline · in review- For
- Level 7–9 · JSS 1 to JSS 3 (BECE)
- Inside
- 6 lessons and a test · about 100 minutes
- Topic
- The transatlantic slave trade · core, 2 of 4
Inside the module.
6 lessons in order, about 100 minutes in all, then a short test. Learners go at their own pace; the minutes are a guide, not a timetable.
Draft outline · in review
Lesson 1: A trade across three continents
How ships carried goods from Europe to the West African coast, captives across the Atlantic, and plantation crops such as sugar and cotton back to Europe.
Explain20 min, from minute 0
Lesson 2: Who took part, and who profited
European trading companies and plantation owners drove the trade; some African rulers and merchants sold captives for goods, while others refused or resisted. We look at the choices people made then, without blaming any people living today.
Explain20 min, from minute 20
Lesson 3: The crossing, through the sources
Compare a trader's account book, a map of voyages and an account written by a survivor, and ask what each can and cannot tell us.
Investigate20 min, from minute 40
Lesson 4: Building the timeline
Place the key stages on one timeline, from Portuguese ships on the West African coast in the 1400s to the end of the trade in the 1800s.
Practice15 min, from minute 60
Lesson 5: Places of memory: Badagry and Cape Coast
Led by the facilitator: why these sites are kept, and how visitors should behave there. Learners may listen rather than speak, or step out.
Discussion15 min, from minute 75
Lesson 6: Review
Mixed questions on how the trade worked, its timeline and its sources, with feedback on each.
Review10 min, from minute 90
End-of-module test
Explain how the trade linked three continents, put its main stages in order, judge how useful a source is for a given question, and explain why sites of memory are kept.
Mastered at 85% or more. Retake it until you pass; nothing is lost, and each try gives feedback.
Already know it? A Challenge Test (planned) clears the whole module: 90% overall, no objective below 75%.
Last stageafter about 100 min
Practicalities
Draft outline · in reviewHandle with care
For facilitators: this module is age-gated, and its discussions are led by you in person, not left to the screen. Some learners' families may have lived through these events. Anyone may opt out of a discussion without giving a reason; check in with them quietly afterwards and offer support.The transatlantic slave trade: enslavement, forced migration and loss of life. Taught soberly, without graphic detail. Not shown below Level 7. Will come with a facilitator note. To be reviewed by people from the communities concerned.
Built to run offline
Planned to run on the Lantern's own computer, with no internet needed.
Beyond the screen
With the facilitator
Languages
Planned first in English; every module aims to reach all of the Lantern's languages.
Try a question.
One question from the module, as a learner would meet it. Have a go, then open the worked solution a step at a time.
Draft outline · in review
A historian wants to understand what the Atlantic crossing was like for the people forced to make it. Which source is more useful for this question: (A) a European trader's account book listing goods bought and sold, or (B) an account written by an African who survived the crossing and later gained freedom?
Particulars
Where it sits
What a learner can do after it
- Explain how the transatlantic slave trade linked Africa, Europe and the Americas, and why it grew.
- Put the main stages of the trade in order on a timeline, from the 1500s to the 1800s.
- Judge how useful a source is for a given question, including whose voices it leaves out.
- Explain why places such as Badagry and Cape Coast are kept as sites of memory.
Needs first
This module has no prerequisites of its own. Like every first step, it assumes the Digital skills gateway: the first module on using a computer, which a Challenge Test clears in minutes.
Unlocks
Nothing requires this module yet.
Level
Level 7–9 · JSS 1 to JSS 3 (BECE)
Level mappings are approximate. A qualified teacher or lecturer in each country must check them before they appear in the app.
Difficulty for its level
2 of 4 · Core
Time
About 100 minutes
Alignments
None drafted yet.
Alignment in review until a qualified teacher or lecturer checks it. No exam body, university or vendor endorses us; learners still sit the real exam.
Challenge Test
Planned: a Challenge Test to prove you know it and skip it. Pass at 90% overall, with no objective below 75%.
University courses it previews
History, History and International Studies, African Studies
The route here.
Everything this module builds on, drawn as a route from its foundations. Solid lanes must be mastered first, or cleared by a Challenge Test; dashed lanes are suggestions that never lock anything.
This module has no prerequisites of its own. Like every first step, it assumes the Digital skills gateway: the first module on using a computer, which a Challenge Test clears in minutes.
Help light the room where this is learned.
Every route on this map starts in a classroom with 24 stations, a tutor that works offline and a facilitator upstairs. Four are planned and waiting for light.